President Muhammadu Buhari has urged accountants in the country to help the Federal Government in its resolve to route corruption out of the country.

Buhari said this while declaring open the Annual Conference of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria in Abuja on Tuesday.

The president who was represented at the event by the Accountant General of the Federation, Alhaji Idris Ahmed, urged accountants and auditors to put Nigeria first in all their professional endeavours.

He said accounting and auditing play key roles in public finance management through the provision of reliable financial positions of businesses in both the public and private sectors.

The presi dent added that data integrity was paramount in guaranteeing accuracy of liabilities and comparability.

He said, “The Nigeria of our dream is one that must prepare itself for global competition not only in recruitment space but also in the delivery of goods and services to the citizens in line with the Sustainable Development Goals.

“Nigerians must work together and all hands must be on deck for our nation to be on the path of sustainable economic growth and development. Our journey towards a united and prosperous nation envisages a strong patriotic competent and highly productive manpower.

“The government remains committed to tackling unemployment, improving productivity and ease of doing business. We remain resolute to deliver good governance to Nigerians.

“Transparency and accountability remain key elements in the general conduct of government businesses hence this administration is fully committed to timely implementation of accrual based international public sector accounting standards with a view to deepen public financial management reforms.”

In his address, ICAN president, Mr. Isma’ila Zakari, said the institute in its continuing efforts to sharpen its professional ethics and contribute to nation building recently adopted the revised global ethical code on non-compliance with laws and regulations.

He said that the code was a whistleblowing initiative which mandated accountants and auditors to expose any act of non-compliance to laws and regulations by their employers and clients to relevant authorities.